Coal Ash Corrosion Resistant Materials Testing
In April 1999, three identical superheater test sections were installed into the Niles Unit No.1 for the purpose of testing and ranking the coal ash corrosion resistance of candidate superheater alloys. The Niles boiler burns high sulfur coal (3% to 3.5%) that has a reasonably high alkali content, thus the constituents necessary for coal ash corrosion are present in the ash. The test sections were controlled to operate with an average surface metal temperature from approximately 1060 F to 1210 F which was well within the temperature range over which coal ash corrosion occurs. Thus, this combination of aggressive environment and high temperature was appropriate for testing the performance of candidate corrosion-resistant tube materials. Analyses of the deposit and scale confirmed that the aggressive alkali-iron-trisulfate constituent was present at the metal surface and active in tube metal wastage. The test sections were constructed so that the response of twelve different candidate tube and/or coating materials could be studied. The plan was to remove and evaluate one of the three test sections at time intervals of 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years. This would permit an assessment of performance of the candidate materials as a function of time. This report provides the results of the evaluation of Test Section C, including the samples that remained in the Test Section for the full exposure period as well as those that were removed early. The analysis of Test Section C followed much the same protocol that was employed in the assessment of Test Section A. Again, the focus was on determining and documenting the relative corrosion rates of the candidate materials. The detailed results of the investigation are included in this report as a series of twelve appendices. Each appendix is devoted to the performance of one of the candidate alloys. The table below summarizes metal loss rate for the worst case sample of each of the candidate materials for both Test Sections A and C. The body of this report compares these for all of the samples in the test section. The 'Coal Ash Corrosion Resistant Materials Testing Program' is being conducted by The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) at Reliant Energy's Niles plant in Niles, Ohio to provide full-scale, in-situ testing of recently developed boiler superheater materials. Fireside corrosion is a key issue for improving efficiency of new coal fired power plants and improving service life in existing plants. In November 1998, B&W began development of a system to permit testing of advanced tube materials at metal temperatures typical of advanced supercritical steam temperatures (1100 F and higher) in a boiler exhibiting coal ash corrosive conditions. Several materials producers including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) contributed advanced materials to the project. In the spring of 1999 a system consisting of three identical sections, each containing multiple segments of twelve different materials, was installed. The sections are cooled by reheat steam, and are located just above the furnace entrance in Niles Unit No.1, a 110 MWe unit firing high sulfur Ohio coal. In November 2001 the first section was removed for thorough metallurgical evaluation after 29 months of operation. The second section was removed in August of 2003. Its evaluation has been completed and is the subject of this report. The final section remains in service and is expected to be removed in the spring of 2005. This paper describes the program; its importance, the design, fabrication, installation and operation of the test system, materials utilized, and experience to date. This report briefly reviews the results of the evaluation of the first section and then presents the results of the evaluation of the second section.
- Research Organization:
- McDermott Technology Incorporated
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-99FT40525
- OSTI ID:
- 971330
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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